A gaming fanatic who lured an 11-year-old girl into the woods before knifing her to death killed her out of ‘frustration’ after losing in a game of Fortnite, it has been revealed.
Owen L., 23, has admitted to murdering Louise Lasalle in the French region of Essonne, south of Paris, on February 7 in a fit of rage after losing the online game.
‘He was very angry after an argument with another gamer,’ prosecutor Gregoire Dulin revealed, adding that Owen L. is known to have tantrums when playing video games and then leaving the house ‘to calm himself down’.
On February 7, Owen L. lost a Fortnite game and insulted the other player before storming out of his home. ‘He wanted to steal something or blackmail someone in order to calm down,’ according to Mr Dulin about the killer’s intentions.
The defendant saw 11-year-old Louise, who carried a phone attached to a lanyard around her neck, and decided to follow her to ‘steal her things’, French newspaper Le Parisien reports.
The computer science student reportedly snatched Louise’s bag and rummaged through it, but Louise screamed and tried to defend herself.
Owen L. knocked her to the ground and stabbed her several times, targeting ‘vital areas’ with ‘extreme violence’, according to Mr Dulin.
According to a police source, she had been ‘hit more than 10 times by an object that could have been a knife’, particularly in the torso and neck.
The body of Louise Lasalle, 11, from Essonne, northern France, was discovered by French police early on Saturday morning
Owen L., a computer science student, came across 11-year-old Louise, who carried a phone attached to a lanyard around her neck and decided to follow her to ‘steal her things’ (Owen L. is pictured on CCTV as he is following Louise)
‘He was very angry after an argument with another gamer,’ prosecutor Gregoire Dulin revealed, adding that Owen L. is known to have tantrums when playing video games
Owen L. was identified as a suspect after police analysed CCTV footage near the woods were Louise’s body was found on February 8.
The footage shows Louise crossing a pedestrian crossing near her parent’s house at 1.58pm on February 7. A man in a black down jacket with the hood pulled over his hat can be seen following her. The man was later identified as Owen L.
Her phone was turned off at 2.07pm and her worried mother checked a geolocation app installed on her phone three minutes later.
Louise’s parents alerted police two hours later when she failed to return home and her sister Mariane posted on social media that her younger sibling had gone missing.
She wrote on Friday afternoon: ‘My little sister Louise Lassalle disappeared at 2pm near Andre Maurois college in Epinay. She went through the Bas Follet trail.
‘She had a purple backpack with a butterfly on it and a navy blue coat. She [had] a large white bandage on her chin too.’
Louise’s body was found by police dogs just a few hundred metres from her school on Saturday. Traces of Owen L.’s DNA were found on Louise’s body.
Owen L. lived with his wealthy parents – his 49-year-old father, a senior executive at a bank, and his 48-year-old mother, an HR manager – and was described by his sister as ‘violent, nervous and aggressive’, according to Le Parisien.
CCTV footage showed Louise leaving her school on Friday afternoon and walking towards a nearby parkland
According to a police source, who asked not to be named, Louise had been ‘hit more than 10 times by an object that could have been a knife’, particularly in the torso and neck
His sister is said to have reported an act of violence committed by her brother to police in 2023.
When Owen L. was arrested on Monday, police also questioned his 23-year-old girlfriend, Laurianne B., who admitted that her boyfriend had told her that he had attacked a schoolgirl with a knife when he came home with an injured hand and blood stains on his chin.
Owen L.’s sister also got home shortly after Laurianne B. bandaged up her boyfriend’s hands. She told police that she heard Owen and Laurianne crying.
Owen L. said he threw his bloodied clothes and the murder weapon away. They have not yet been located by police.
The girlfriend was also arrested on Monday as police suspected she failed to report the crime. She has since been released a conditional release. Owen L.’s parents were also remanded and have since been released.
The murder shocked France and comes at a time when law and order, and in particular crime against children, are major issues in French politics and society.
‘An innocent life was torn away from life and the love of her family. We are in the process of the investigation, but sadness and anger are overwhelming every French person,’ said Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau.
In a statement from the local authority, officials publicly expressed their sympathy ‘with the family’s grief’.
The post added: ‘As soon as [Louise’s] disappearance was reported, all means were deployed to try to find her.’
The youngster had last been seen around 1.50pm on Friday afternoon as she left the André-Maurois middle school in Épinay-sur-Orge (pictured)
An appeal posted by Louise’s sister, Mariane Lassalle, stated that the youngster had a large white bandage on her chin prior to her disappearance
Some 120 members of the security forces were deployed on Sunday at the Longjumeau wood where the body was found, seeking any clue that could lead police to the perpetrator, prosecutors said.
According to a police source, Louise’s phone was found close to the body.
Louise’s death also sent shockwaves through the community, with a former student called Camille telling French media that ‘it could have happened to any of us’.
‘It’s really very shocking,’ she added as she put down a bouquet of flowers in front of the Andre Maurois high school in Epinay-sur-Orge on the weekend.
